JOURNEY INTO THE DEPTHS OF MANKIND'S PASTFor people who are interested in prehistoric Celtic art, or indeed in art of any kind, this decorated stone (photograph below) is undoubtedly one of the most interesting items they are ever likely to see: regardless of where they go to in the world.In contrast to their Greek and Roman contemporaries, and for reasons unknown, the pre-Christian Celtic communities appear to have banned reading and writing (except perhaps for a very small number of their druids); and there seems to be no trace of any written material of theirs in existence. In place of normal writing, it looks as though they decided instead on the use of a relatively simpler set of symbols for expressing ideas (rather than words): and for maintaining and strengthening their religious and political beliefs. In so far as the long term survival of their race and language was concerned, this "paper free" approach appears to have proved surprisingly successful for them.| Amenities | Contact Information | Home Page | Christmas Village | | Top of Page | | Road Map | After a relatively short period, the once great (and relatively heavily centralized and bureaucratic) Greek and Roman Empires fell by the wayside: while the "Celtic Empire" with its decentralized cell like power structure, has so far managed to survive everything life has thrust at it - which at some times in history has been extremely severe. Thanks largely to the Island of Ireland, and the protection its seas provided from the Roman armies (which were largely responsible for the destruction of the pre-Christian Celtic power bases elsewhere in Europe), the Irish cell of the ancient Celtic cultural matrix - which of course included the Irish language, not only survived the so called "Dark Ages", but even managed to produce some of the world's greatest works of art during that otherwise lackluster period in European history. (In certain parts of rural Ireland, the Irish language continues to be some people's first language.)Largely as a result of the influence of St. Patrick it seems, the Irish Celts took to pen and ink art in the fifth century AD; and just around the time when the great classical libraries on mainland Europe were being wrecked (by anti-Roman forces) and destroyed forever, the Celtic scribes in Ireland were busy copying everything (both pagan and Christian) they could lay their hands on. Items copied included works by people such as Homer and Aristotle. (A generation or so later, a group of Celtic monks then left Ireland to successfully relaunch Western civilization in Scotland, England, and on mainland Europe: by founding a string of monasteries in places such as Iona, York, Paris, Rome, Cologne, Vienna, and many, many others.)Despite the fact that is has been severely damaged in a number of ways, the eighth century BOOK OF KELLS (for instance), is still considered by many to be the most beautiful book ever written in human history; and the gifted hands of the people who produced it were the direct descendants of the same race of people who cut and carved The Turoe Stone.
Page from The Book Of Kells The above page, which contains examples of almost all the varieties of design found in Celtic art, is considered by many to be the most elaborate, and most beautiful specimen of calligraphy ever produced. It represents the opening words of Saint Matthew's Gospel: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ ....." One interesting piece of symbolism in the above can be seen to the left of the text at the bottom of the page: two rats compete for a piece bread - while two "fat cats" sit back and watch. | Amenities | Contact Information | Home Page | Christmas Village | | Top of Page | | Road Map | Much of the symbolism used in pre-Christian Celtic stone art is of simple design. Straightforward spirals (for example) were frequently used. Often they appear in a group of three: possibly symbolic of the physical, mental, and spiritual development of a human life winding its way through the rotating seasons of its years - on its journey from birth to death.
NEWGRANGE | Amenities | Contact Information | Home Page | Christmas Village | | Top of Page | | Road Map | It seems that the changing seasons (and their associated cycles of degeneration and regeneration) were very carefully monitored, and greatly revered by the ancient Celts. For example, the great passage-tomb at Newgrange, County Meath (which is now thought to have been built around 3100 BC), seems to have been very skillfully constructed in such a way that on the morning of December 21st of each year (the winter solstice), a pencil-thin shaft of light penetrates the chamber for approximately 17 minutes: symbolic perhaps of the womb-like compartment being impregnated by the sun - to mark (and to celebrate maybe?) the start of the new cycle of annual regeneration. Interestingly, there is an extremely ancient burial complex on a hill called "Grange" within a few miles of the Turoe Stone, and at the bottom of one of its slopes there is a raised piece of ground of several acres, with a river in between; and it is tempting to speculate that this may have been the "Old" Grange?For reasons that are not yet fully clear (and possibly never will be), it appears that in the case of the Turoe Stone, the pre-Christian Celts raised the strength, sophistication, and complexity of their spiritual abstractions and symbolism to the highest level by far that they ever used in their stone art; and, in so doing, they may (in a way similar to the later situation regarding the Book of Kells) have given to the world the finest example of abstract stone art ever produced.
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